Using numerics to explore the EPRL spinfoam amplitude

Abstract

The use of numerical methods in loop quantum gravity is still relatively untapped. Numerical methods are, however, a useful tool, and offer access to regimes that are as of yet inaccessible by analytical methods. This thesis offers an example of this utility by presenting numerical methods for computing the vertex amplitude of a spinfoam model composed of cuboid intertwiners. The vertex amplitude has a known analytical solution in the semi-classical regime, but no known analytical solution in the purely quantum regime. These numerical methods, therefore, allow for an examination of the transition between the quantum and semi-classical regimes, and provide a foundation for future numerical methods in loop quantum gravity.